Estimating and Understanding Child Trafficking in West Africa: Assessment Strategies and Methodological Challenges

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

Despite recent changes and uncertainties, the US government remains a leading force in global efforts to combat human trafficking around the world. To support a recent bilateral agreement between the US government and the government of Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa, a group of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, NORC at the Univeristy of Chicago, and University of Illinois at Chicago, came together to plan and execute a large scale formative research project to gauge the extent and situation of child trafficking in the country, in three particular sectors: child domestic work, forced street begging, and commercial sex trade. This panel will present the efforts in the design and implemnetation of a complex formative research component attached to the bilateral agreement, and highlight our strategies in preparing the country for large scale and multi-faceted anti-trafficking programs.

Sub Unit

• Area III. Types of Offending / 18. Human Trafficking

Individual Presentations

• Understanding Human Trafficking in Côte d’Ivoire Through Online Data Collection and Analysis - Claire Seungeun Lee, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Charles C. Hounmenou, University of Illinois Chicago; Shanna Thompson, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Organizational Perspectives on Combatting Child Trafficking in Cote d’Ivoire: A National Survey - Kareem Kysia, NORC at University of Chicago; Alexandre Monnard, NORC at University of Chicago; Mayumi Rezwan, NORC at University of Chicago; Sheldon Zhang, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Sampling Efforts in Cote d’Ivoire on Child Trafficking Prevalence Estimation - Jason Rydberg, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Xichen Wang, University of Massachusetts Lowell

• Understanding the Experiences and Service Needs of Child Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Cote-d’Ivoire - Charles C. Hounmenou, University of Illinois Chicago

Chair

• Sheldon Zhang, University of Massachusetts Lowell